Since mid-November, I have watched an ongoing conversation on Twitter regarding how a social media expert can be defined. The conversation was sparked by a comment from @karmacakedotca in response to @metroToronto hiring a new social media expert, Rea McNamara, to write their social media column. What sparked the conversation was the fact that @reeraw only has a little over 400 followers on Twitter, so how does that make her an expert on social media?
Unfortunately, there was no tag for this conversation, making it difficult to reproduce the entire thing (much as I would like to). However, one thing became clear – it’s hard to measure such expertise.
Consider for a moment any other field – say, painting murals. An expert painter can show a portfolio of past murals painted. They can list contracts they have received to paint murals. References can be called to testify about their skill, how well they stay on budget, ability to manage expectations, and so on. There are questions to be asked, with reasonable answers expected.
…@reeraw got a score of 95%. To contrast, @karmacakedotca got a grade of 99.6%…
Social media is different, because there are no clear questions, nor clear answers expected to quantify someone’s expertise. You could use a tool such as the one found at http://twitter.grader.com to give you a mark, based on a variety of factors – number of followers (and their grades), the ratio of followers to following (you want lots of followers, but not following as many), updates and frequency of updates, and your updates being retweeted by people with a high grade (count out the spam bots). Of course, the exact details of how the score is computed is not specified to avoid people trying to game the system.
8 Comments
This is a great article. I think the term Social Media expert is difficult to define precisely. You talk about reach but I don’t even think Twitter is the best tool to determine someone’s actual reach or influence. I mean I know of a ton of ways to increase my Twitter following without anyone even knowing who I am:) A person’s influence I think is based more on how much they have developed a following in ‘real’ life, be it through blogs, the media, online, etc.
And to be a Social Media expert, IMO you don’t necessarily even have to have a large social influence. Unless a business is hiring someone to be some sort of representative, there are other goals that a business could be looking for from a Social Media expert. For example, a business might be looking for lead generation or it might be looking to begin exploring different social networks. In those cases, you don’t have to be a Chris Brogran to qualify.
I think as you mentioned it does come down to the experience that you can demonstrate from your previous accomplishments and the goals that a business has in mind.
Thanks Zye! The article was focusing on Twitter in particular, but you’re absolutely correct – depending on what field you’re in will determine which venue is best for distributing your message. Influence is not a factor of how many people you can reach, but how many of the right type of person you can reach and have a positive impact on their decisions.
You summed it up nicely in closing: it’s all about experience and prior accomplishments.
It’s a good argument, and one I’m thinking about more and more. I’m a social media manager for @EngineCom. I also tweet @brynajones. I don’t consider myself an ‘expert’ because the field is too new, and the media is constantly changing. However, as much as I don’t label myself, my job is to be better at SM management than any of my competitors, and to take my clients and Engine Communications to new levels of professionalism and ROI in the field. Some of the real ‘experts’ are people like @jaybaer @thebrandbuilder @danzarilla @josh_greenburg and @BethHarte – people who take solid marketing tools, education, and research, and implement them into their SM use. They are the ones I look up to.
As you say, Bryna, it’s not about what you know, or who you work for, but what you DO that defines your expertise.
FWIW, I’ve been blogging since early 2001, been on Twitter since shortly after it launched in 2006, and have actively participated in more forms of social media and social networking environment than I can even recall.
I spoke at the first big business-focused conference on blogging/social media back in 2003, and at many other events since then.
I’ve designed and run numerous successful social media-driven campaigns, spanning a host of different platforms and purposes, and I now make my living almost exclusively through social media consulting.
I’ve been described by clients, colleagues and competitors as a “social media expert”. Personally, I can’t stand the term.
The day I start thinking of myself as an “expert” is the day you can officially put me out to grass; as that will mark the day I’ve stopped learning.
OK, I”m being snarky – I know. Point is, there are lots and lots of people who know how to do stuff in this space, but the self-described “experts” are often the ones you really want to avoid. Your main argument here is well made – judge by past results, not by claims of expertise. It’s what you’ve done that matters, not what you say you can do.
I’m just a social media lover…And a lover of social media peeps…
I really love this article because it brings up a good point: who can really call themselves “experts” in social media?
I like to think of myself as a life-long learner – the day I say I’m an expert is the day I stop learning and in a field that is constantly changing at an increasing rate, that’ll kill ya.
I think it’s also important that like any job, you need to prove you can do the work. They want some experience, some references, some examples of your work. Sure the girl may not have had many followers on Twitter but the number of followers she does/doesn’t have may not show what she can do.
Let’s just wait and see…who knows! Big things might happen. 
Aleks
Fair enough Aleks, time will tell whether she was a good choice for the position or not.